Saturday, August 5, 2017

Just pondering this question can lead to wonders that I think Carrey hoped to get his audience (us) to explore. What do you do when ... life... wait a minute, who/what is life? Life is just....you know, life isn't it? and then he continues...

"your vocation chooses you." Wow! life = vocation = life. Wow!

And then with my mind wondering: with our supposed free-will, do we always allow "vocation" to choose us?

Skipping to the end Carrey states, "I don't know what painting teaches me, I know it just frees me: free from the future, free from the past, free from regret, free from worry... Something inside of you is always telling a story. I believe every single thing you see and hear is talking to you...The bottom-line with all of this, whether it is performance or art or its sculpture, is love. We want to show ourselves and have that be accepted. I love being alive, and the art is the evidence of that."

Captivated by this reflection by Jim Carrey, the question I ponder is; Have I allowed my vocation to choose me?

SD

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About Me

Commissioned as a Spiritual Director, I am a member of the Order of Secular Franciscans and student of René Girard reflecting on how we desire according to the desires of the other. I have spent much of my life with a small family business and more recently helping a local Faith In Action ministry, connecting volunteers with seniors. My patron saint is Saint Bernadine of Siena. With my wife Ann Charback, we attend St. Mary's Catholic Church in Bloomington, IL.

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Franciscan Tau

Henri Nouwen - from Reaching Out

How do we know that we are not deluding ourselves?

Thomas Merton

The most dangerous man in the world is the contemplative who is guided by nobody.

My Patron Saint - St Bernadine of Siena

In all your actions, seek in the first place the kingdom of God and his glory. Direct all you do purely to his honor. Persevere in brotherly charity, and practice first all that you desire to teach others.

René Girard

Mimetic Theory has two dimensions which appear to be distinct, but are in fact inseparably intertwined. The first of these is the mimetic, or imitative nature of desire. The second is the "scapegoat mechanism'. Click on photo to link to "We didn’t invent sacrifice, sacrifice invented us: unpacking Girard’s insight" by James Alison

Quotes

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." [This quote is in Gil Bailie's Violence Unveiled, p. xv, where he attributes the quotation to a conversation he had with Thurman.]

"A Catholic without a spiritual director is like an Olympic athlete without a coach." - Mary Houser, Source: Mater Ecclesiae College

“The virtuous soul that is alone and without a master (a spiritual director) is like a burning coal; it will grow colder rather than hotter.” — St. John of the Cross